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Friday, December 19, 2014

Theater in the Now's Best of 2014!

Another year, another whirlwind of great entertainment! 2014 brought a lot of daring and new theater as well as some great revivals of classic and modern texts. While some would say the year on Broadway was a bit lacking, the Off Broadway and Indie world greatly made up for it! Here's my list of the top 5 productions of the year!

1. Hedwig and the Angry Inch

The cult classic finally found it's way to the Great White Way and in fabulous fashion. The Tony winning revival brought showman Neil Patrick Harris to don the infamous wig and rock out to an updated rockin' score. With Andrew Rannells, Michael C. Hall, and John Cameron Mitchell following in the Tony winner's platforms, it was Lena Hall that gave one of the stand out performances of the year.

2. Fly By Night
Quite possibly the most underrated production of the entire year, Playwrights Horizons enchanted audiences with this stunning musical by Will Connolly, Michael Mitnick, and Kim Rosenstock. The stunning intertwining love story brought some performances that pulled on your heartstrings. Allison Case and Henry Stram gave some beautiful performances but try not crying while watching Peter Friedman.

3. Propaganda! The Musical

Theater festivals rarely give you perfection, but in this year's New York Musical Theater Festival, there was perfection. And that perfection happened to be the future of theater. Written by Taylor Ferrera and Matt Webster, this musical comedy was a hilarious new piece that brought the laughs from start to finish. And it also showcased a star in the making, Dale Sampson. If the theater gods were watching, Propaganda! The Musical will have a new life soon.

4. Pentecost
Each summer, PTP/NYC comes to the city and spends a month in residence at Atlantic Theatre Company's Stage II. This year, they brought with them an incredible revival of David Edgar's Pentecost. Wonderfully directed by Cheryl Faraone and featuring a large ensemble of professional and student actors, Pentecost defined the brilliance of Edgar's story with a stunning commentary on art.

5. Powerhouse

Sinking Ship Productions brought the life of Raymond Scott to the stage in exquisite fashion. With a limited run at The New Ohio, Powerhouse was a color explosion about one man's love for creating art and the effect it has on his life. The bioplay featured some incredible moments of puppetry as we saw the creation of a cartoon and a mini cartoon live on stage.